


Tony Stark's Adventures in Spider-Sitting

by happyaspie



Series: Tony Stark is a Good Mentor [61]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: BAMF Pepper Potts, Harry Potter References, Pet Sitting, Peter Parker Has a Pet Tarantula, Peter Parker Loves Spiders, Precious Peter Parker, Spiders, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark is not a Fan, Tony Stark is trying his best, Worried Peter Parker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:08:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28693725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyaspie/pseuds/happyaspie
Summary: Peter is going to go on vacation with his Aunt and everything about that is exciting except for one thing.  He doesn't want to leave Aragog, his pet tarantula, alone for that long.  When every other option falls through, he ends up asking his mentor if he'd be willing to spider-sit.   It goes about as well as you would expect.🕷️Or🕷️Tony thinks Peter's Spider is creepy but agrees to watch it anyway. However, when it ends up loose in his penthouse, he near about has a heart attack.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Tony Stark is a Good Mentor [61]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1397362
Comments: 37
Kudos: 148





	Tony Stark's Adventures in Spider-Sitting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jen27ny](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jen27ny/gifts).



> This fic is based on a fabulous imagine that[ jen27ny](https://yes-i-am-happyaspie.tumblr.com/post/632967365989171200/jen27ny-yes-i-am-happyaspie-jen27ny-listen) posted on Tumblr.
>
>> _Listen, I love the irony of Peter being afraid of spiders as much as the next person, but what if it’s actually not the case? What if Peter gets really into spiders after doing his research on them post-spider bite, and then he gets himself a tarantula or something – naming it Aragog – and keeps it in a terrarium in his room? Sometimes, he would even let the spider out of it, letting it move around freely in his room, not one bit freaked out when Aragog sits on his shoulder while he does his homework._
>> 
>> _Tony is very much freaked out by Aragog, but he still agrees to look after the spider for a week while Peter and May go on vacation because he simply can’t say no to Peter. One day, Tony doesn’t properly close the terrarium after throwing some food inside (because he’s not getting closer than he absolutely has to) and the spider escapes. Cue Tony almost panicking because he knows how upset Peter would be if anything happens to Aragog and because it also means he has to touch it. FRIDAY is very helpful, keeping all of her many eyes on the spider, but in the end it’s Pepper who picks the pet up to place it back into its home._  
> 
> 
> You can check out the post [[HERE]!](https://yes-i-am-happyaspie.tumblr.com/post/632967365989171200/jen27ny-yes-i-am-happyaspie-jen27ny-listen)

Summer break was just around the corner and Peter was eager to be done with school. Not just because that would mean being able to spend way more time in the spider-suit but also because for the first time in what felt like forever, he and May were going to go on an actual vacation together. It wasn’t much, just a few days in an inexpensive hotel but they would be close enough to the shoreline that they could spend their days on the beach and their evening walking up and down the boardwalk, eating street foods and looking in all of the little shop windows. Everything about the trip sounded exciting, except for one thing.

“Come on Aragog, let's get you into your house,” Peter said with a sigh as he carefully picked up his pet tarantula, who had been scuttling around on his desk as he studied, and placed him into the terrarium that took up at least half of the space on top of his dresser. The upcoming vacation would mean leaving Aragog alone for more than a night and he'd never had to do that before.

May had insisted over and over again that the tarantula would be fine. He only needed to be fed a few times a week and that could be taken care of before they left. But still, Peter was dubious. He’d done a lot of research on Spiders, in general, after being bitten by the radioactive one at Oscorp. That research, while being extremely helpful when it came to his new powers, had also left him desperately wanting to adopt a spider of his own. 

That had led to a whole new research topic and after hours of reading and watching videos, he felt like something of an expert. He knew exactly how particular pet tarantulas could be. Their habitats had to be just right for them to thrive and he couldn’t help but worry. There was a lot that could go wrong in five days' time. What if the water spilled causing the humidity to go too low? What if the power went out the temperature inside of the terrarium dropped. Or worse, what if he made a mistake and his spider got out without him there to keep him safe. If Aragog got hurt or lost, _or worse,_ he would never forgive himself.

His first instinct had been to call Ned and see if he could come by the apartment every day to make sure that everything was as it should be. But that didn't work out, seeing as his friend was going to be going out of town the same week. MJ was his next consideration but she too was going to be unavailable. From there, he'd gone down the list of his AcaDeca teammates hoping that one of them would be willing to help him out but they had all made one excuse or another as to why they couldn’t. That had left him with one other option and that option was due to arrive at any moment to pick him up for dinner. With that in mind, he double-checked that the side door opening of Aragog’s enclosure was secure and went to join his aunt in the living room.

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Aunt May?” Peter asked, as he sat down on the arm of the couch and leaned over to rest his head on his aunt’s shoulder. “It’s kind of a lot to ask and what if he says 'no' too?”

May sighed and reached around to awkwardly pat her nephew on his back. “I highly doubt that he’ll say no, but if he does then we’ll figure it out. Maybe we can- hire somebody or something.”

Peter was just about to protest that he didn’t want her to have to spend extra money on a pet-sitter when there came a knock at the door. May gave him one last reassuring pat and then went to answer it, while he continued to sit there and chew on his lip.

“Hey, kiddo, what are you doing over there?” Tony queried once he and May had finished exchanging pleasantries. “Usually you're trying to drag me out the door the moment I get here.”

“Well,” Peter sighed, getting up and moving towards his mentor, “I, uh, I actually wanted to ask you something first. A favor, I guess. If that’s okay,” he rambled, sounding both anxious and enthusiastic all at once.

Tony smiled as he entered the room fully and held his hands out by his sides. “Well, let’s hear it, Kid. What do you need?” he inquired with enthusiasm. The kid had never asked him for anything before and he was fully prepared to go out and buy him whatever it was that he wanted without further question. Yet rather than requesting anything, the teenager turned towards the hall and gestured for him to follow.

“So, in a couple of weeks, May and I are going to the beach for a few days, “ Peter explained before pushing his door open and leading his mentor inside. “And I really need someone to take care of Aragog while I’m gone.”

“Aragog?” Tony repeated, with a questioning quirk of his brow. 

“Mhmm. I’ve had him for almost two years now, but I’ve never had to leave him alone like this before, and I’m worried that something will happen to him while I’m gone. So, I was kind of hoping that you could watch him for me. I mean, I tried to ask Ned but he’s going to be out of town too and I can’t trust just anyone with him,” Peter explained all in one breath and watched as his mentor's face shifted from amused to mild curiosity.

“What exactly _is-_ What did you call it, again? Aragog?” Tony asked as he squinted towards the tank that held whatever creature that the kid was obviously and inordinately attached to. He already knew he was going to get suckered into looking after whatever it was but he decided that it would be a good idea to have at least some idea of what he was signing up for.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Peter asked because he didn’t think he’d been exceptionally clever when he’d named the spider. May had insisted that he should call his pet whatever he wanted to call him and since he’d liked the name and the reference, he’d gone with it. 

Tony took a moment to roll the name around in his head. It sounded ever so slightly familiar but he couldn’t seem to place it. “No?” he finally questioned when nothing came to mind.

“He’s a spider, Mr. Stark,” Peter laughed. “Well, _technically_ he’s a Mexican Red-Knee Tarantula but I named him after the giant Acromantula in Harry Potter and-” he began to excitedly ramble.

“-Of course you did,” Tony interjected with a huffed laugh, then allowed the kid to finish up his lively account of how the spider’s name came to be. He could help but smile at the enthusiasm despite the churning unease that came from the idea of intentionally keeping a very large eight-legged pest inside of your home. “So, you’re asking me to- Spider-sit?” he hesitantly inquired.

With that question, Peter’s smile fell and he began to shift his weight nervously from foot to foot. “I know it’s a really big favor, but he’s super sweet and easy to take care of,” he said, deciding that maybe the best way to prove his point would be to take Aragog out so that his mentor could see exactly how friendly he really was. “Here let me get him out for you!” he suggested but before he could even get himself all the way turned around, the man was stopping him.

“No, no- I can see him just fine from over here,” Tony insisted, sounding a bit more alarmed than he’d meant to. Though he was quick to pull himself together, waving a hand casually towards the terrarium. “Besides he, uh, he looks comfortable where he’s at. No need to disturb him, right? We’re good. I’ll meet him some other time,” he lied with practiced ease. 

“If you say so, Mr. Stark,” Peter replied with a shrug of his shoulders, not really comprehending the apprehension that the man was radiating. Logically, he knew that there were a lot of people who didn’t appreciate arachnids the way he did but that tended to slip his mind when it came to Aragog. “But you’ll do it? You’ll take care of him for me?”

Tony cleared his throat and gave a curt nod of his head. “Uh, yeah. Of course. Anything for you, Buddy,” he said, hoping that whatever he had to do to keep the thing alive didn’t involve him touching it. He had to suppress a shiver at the mere thought.

“Awesome! Thank you so much, Mr. Stark! You’re going to love him, I swear,” Peter shouted with glee, completely oblivious to the tight noise that had come out of the man’s mouth at the promise. 

For the rest of their time together, Tony hardly got a word in as Peter went through Aragog's care routine with excruciating detail, mixing in an extraordinary amount of facts and trivia as he did so. No matter how many times he tried to steer their dinner conversation towards literally anything but spiders, the kid would find a way to swing the discussion back towards his topic of choice for the evening. It took a lot of effort to keep his face neutral during the exchange but he had to admit that the amount of effort the kid had put into his research was worthy of applause.

The night ended as it usually did, Tony going back up to the Parkers' apartment to have a cup of tea or coffee with May while Peter took off into the night to do his vigilante thing. The conversation was light and he was pleased when the subject of tarantulas or taking care of tarantulas had been laid to rest. He was even more pleased when the kid didn't mention anything else about it until he was walking into his penthouse, a couple of weeks later, lugging a giant terrarium and a bag of supplies along with him.

“Where do you want me to put him, Mr. Stark?” Peter inquired, shifting the weight in his arms so that he could see past his cargo.

“Uh. How about your room,” Tony suggested, keeping his gaze on the kid’s face rather than on the eight beady little eyes that seemed to be tracking his every move. 

Peter looked down the hallway that led to his room and back towards the large open space that made up the kitchen and living room and twisted his nose. “I don’t know. Wouldn’t it be better to keep him out here? He’s used to me taking him out all the time. I don’t want him to get lonely,” he said, not really wanting to think about his friend being tucked away with very little interaction for so many days.

Tony nodded his head in understanding and placed his hands firmly in his pockets. “Yeah, but your room would probably be more comfortable. It probably smells like you or something,” he suggested with a shrug of his shoulders. When it looked like the kid was going to protest, he offhandedly spat out the very next excuse that came to mind. “Plus, I’m sure he’d rather not have a stranger walking past his enclosure all the time.”

After taking the man’s words into consideration, Peter slowly nodded his head. That sounded reasonable. Being left in an unfamiliar place filled with unfamiliar faces would probably make anyone uncomfortable. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” he agreed and then went to set up the terrarium, pulling Aragog out and allowing him to crawl around on his shoulder as he got everything plugged in and properly adjusted. When he was done, he held him up and told him good-bye before placing him back inside, never noticing that his mentor had slunk out the door to watch from the hallway the entire time the spider was out of his house.

“Here are the instructions,” Peter said, handing the carefully typed out list to Tony. Though, rather than allowing the man to quietly skim the paper, he began to impart what he felt like was the most important information himself. “I didn’t try to feed him this morning because I thought moving him would be stressful, so you’ll need to give him some crickets tomorrow and again in three or four days. Just a few though because anything he doesn’t eat has to be taken out and those things are really good at hiding.”

Tony dutifully nodded along and then repeated the information if for no other reason than to ease the kid’s mind. “Got it. Feed the little creepy crawlies to the big creepy crawly every few days.”

“Yep, and make sure his water bowl is full. And keep an eye on the humidity. What to do if it gets too dry is in the instructions,” Peter shot back without missing a beat, gesturing towards the paper that was still in his mentor’s hand. 

With a soft smile, Tony reached out with his free hand and patted the nervous-looking teenager on the shoulder. “I’ll take care of all of it, Kiddo. Don’t even worry about it. Just have fun on your vacation,” he said and he meant it. The kid would never forgive him if anything happened to the thing on his watch. 

Peter nodded his head warily and turned to walk out of the room but before Tony followed him out, he looked towards the tarantula that was just barely visible from where he’d scurried inside of the fake log that resided in the corner of the habitat. “ _I hope you don’t think I’m going to actually take you out and hold you like the kid does,_ ” he quietly hissed, a shiver running up his spine at the thought of having all of those spindly legs crawling on him and then joined the teenager into the living room.

Once Peter had gone, Tony went back to business as usual. He worked in the lab until Pepper dragged him upstairs for dinner. He briefly mentioned the horrid little house guest that they would be hosting for the week but made no effort to prolong that particular conversation, choosing instead to ask her about her day. And outside of that and a quick peek at the hygrometer before bed, he didn’t give the tarantula a whole lot of thought. 

The next day was a different story. He had to feed the thing, which meant he had to open the door and potentially stick his hand inside the enclosure. It took quite a while to work himself up to complete the task. Eventually, he decided to just get it over with, grabbed a couple of the crickets, expeditiously threw the door open, tossed them in from as much of a distance as he could manage, and then swung the door closed before hurrying out of the room to wash his hands.

It wasn’t until later when he went into the room praying that he didn’t have to remove any crickets that hadn't been eaten, that he realized the mistake he’d made earlier. His breath caught in his throat as his eyes searched the room and then as panic was starting to set in, he leaned against the door frame to take a few steadying breaths. “FRIDAY? Please, _for the love of God,_ tell me that you have eyes on that spider,” he practically begged.

“Of course, Boss. The tarantula is currently underneath Mr. Parker’s bed,” The AI replied and Tony felt himself breathe a small sigh of relief. He’d not lost the spider completely but it was still loose in his house and he really, really didn’t want it to be.

“Fabulous,” he grumbled to himself, then taking another deep breath through his nose. “Alright FRIDAY, just, uh, just stay alert and keep me posted on that thing's whereabouts, while I figure out how to get it back in its cage,” he said before practically running to the lab just to put as much distance between himself and the large spider that was currently roaming freely around his home.

After wrangling up a few informative web pages, videos, and forums, Tony was already grunting in frustration. Apparently, the first thing he should have done was to close the door so that the spider couldn’t leave the area but seeing as it was too late for that, he moved on. And after reading every trick and technique the internet had to offer he reluctantly made his way back up to the penthouse.

“Where is it now, Friday?” he demanded the moment he’d stepped out of the elevator. He hoped that it was still under the bed but that wasn’t the case. Evidently, Aragog had been feeling adventurous and had made his way into the living room while he was gone. 

Tony took a deep breath and decided to prepare himself before actually seeking the spider out. He slipped into the kitchen and found some oven mitts so that even if he had to touch the hairy monstrosity he wouldn’t have to actually touch it. Then for good measure, he grabbed a colander because if he could get that on top of the tarantula then maybe he could slide a magazine under it and carry it to the kid’s room like that. 

Feeling marginally more prepared he made his way back into the living room, picked up the previous month’s issue of Cosmo, and scanned his surroundings. “Alright, where are you, you little beast,” he whispered before asking the AI for the Aragog's exact location. 

“The tarantula is currently three feet to your left, beneath the side table,” FRIDAY informed, pulling a high pitched squeak out of Tony’s mouth as he leaped up onto the couch and climbed up so that he was standing on the back of it.

For a few minutes, Tony just stood there staring at the edge of the table that the AI had indicated the spider was hiding under and waited for it to come crawling out, periodically double-checking that it hadn’t somehow managed to sneak away without him noticing. He was sure that if at any point, he looked down to find it crawling up his leg he would have a heart attack.

Being solely focused on not being ambushed by his kid’s nightmare pet, he didn’t hear FRIDAY announced Pepper’s arrival. He nearly jumped out of his skin when she dropped her keys onto the table.

“What are you doing, Tony?” Pepper asked, crossing the room towards her finance, who was balanced on the back of the couch, looking as if he were about to go to war with a five-year-old’s imaginary friend. 

Snapping his head to the side, Tony could see Peppers face gleaming with exasperated mirth and immediately began to defend himself. “This isn’t what it looks like!” he pressed.

“What are you _talking about?_ ” Pepper laughed, coming a bit further into the room so that she could hopefully sort out what was happening. Goodness knows the possibilities were endless. Though she paused mid-step when the man held up his mitted hands and shouted for her to stop, to which she gave him a questioning look.

“It’s right under there!” Tony vaguely informed while vigorously gesturing towards the table that the spider was still hunkered underneath.

Pepper looked curiously between the man’s stressed features and the side table that he was still watching with intensity. “What's right under there?” she finally asked with nothing seemed amiss.

“Aragog,” Tony strained and when the woman looked at him in confusion, he grunted in frustration. “The kid’s gigantic spider. It got out and now it’s under that table just waiting for me to get distracted _so that it can try and kill me_.”

Pepper bent her head down so that she could get a better look, smiling once she’d laid eyes on the tarantula that had Iron Man on the verge of a complete melt-down. “Gigantic is kind of overselling it, isn’t it?” she scoffed.

“Are we talking about the same spider?” Tony pressed, his voice seeping with disbelief because the thing had a leg span of five inches. That being, at minimum, a nine-hundred percent increase in size compared to an everyday house spider. “That thing is huge- _and gross_ with its creepy legs and beady little eyes.”

With a roll of her eyes, Pepper crossed the distance between herself and the offending creature. Then, against Tony’s protests, she kneeled down and placed her palm down in front of Aragog, using her other hand to gently coax him into her hand. Once Aragog was in her possession she held him up, in an attempt to prove to her fiance that he was harmless, but when the man squeaked indignantly and leaned away, nearly falling off of the couch in the process, she laughed. 

“Earth’s mightiest defender, huh?” she challenged with a gleeful smile and a shake of her head.

“That’s not the same thing!” Tony retaliated, throwing the oven mitts off and sending her a trenchant look.

“Sure, it’s not,” Pepper replied and then turned her attention to the creature that was slowly starting to make his way up her arm. “Come on, Aragon, let's get you back home before our _resident superhero_ goes into cardiac arrest,” she cooed and then disappeared down the hall.

For the remainder of the time that Peter was away, Pepper became Aragog’s primary caregiver. Tony had wanted to protest when she offered but if anything, he was actually relieved. Even he could admit that she was far more suited for the job and before he knew it the kid was bouncing into the penthouse with sun-kissed cheeks and a lively smile.

“How did it go, Mr. Stark? Is Aragog okay? Was he a good boy for you?” Peter asked before he’d ever made it all the way into the living room.

“Yeah, about that-'' Tony mumbled, not really considering how that particular statement might come across. He just wasn’t eager to talk about his less than gallant adventures in spider-sitting.

Peter’s eyes went wide as his stomach dropped down into his stomach. “What happened?” he appealed with trepidation, automatically assuming the worst.

“Nothing!” Tony rapidly assured. “Nothing happened. Well, I mean something happened but it’s fine. Aragog might have, sort of, kind of, gotten out of his cage- but I got back in it, no problem,” he added all in one breath.

“Who got him back in his cage?” Pepper asked, entering the room just in time to set the record straight. 

“Okay fine,” Tony gave in with a roll of his eyes. “Pepper got him back in his cage but the point is, Aragog is safe and sound, and all packed up and ready to go,” he said, getting up and nearly pushing the kid down the hall as he spoke.

Peter momentarily dug his heels into the ground and looked over his shoulder with concern. “Are you okay, Mr. Stark?” he asked.

“Peachy. Just don’t want to hold you up. I’m sure Aragog is ready to get back home,” Tony returned, scooping up the bag of supplies he’d packed up that morning and thrusting it into the kid’s hands.

“Okay,” Peter cautiously returned but he continued to gather all of Aragog’s things so that he could go. Though he did take a moment to hug both his mentor and Pepper, thanking them profusely for looking after his pet while he was gone. 

An hour or so later as Peter was getting all of Aragog’s things back into place he noticed that a thumb drive had been placed into the supply bag. When he picked it up to inspect it he smiled. Written on the side, in Pepper’s curly handwriting were the words ‘Nanny-cam’ 

Once he'd plugged it into his laptop he found a single video file and opened it without hesitation. It didn’t take long for him to figure out that Pepper had compiled and spliced together all FRIDAY’s surveillance footage from the evening that Aragog had escaped his enclosure. He laughed throughout the entire video, which had started with Tony squeamishly throwing crickets through the door and ended with Pepper calmly and carefully placing his tarantula into his house.

In fact, he enjoyed the video so much that he ended up sharing it with May, Ned, Happy, and even Rhodey as soon as he got the chance. That had obviously led to a lot of teasing and if Tony ended up being gifted an assortment of tarantula themed gifts over the next several years, then that was to be expected. Mostly because none of them ever found anything more entertaining than watching _the invincible Iron Man_ shudder, each and every single time. 

**Author's Note:**

> ****
> 
> I hope this was as much for you to read as it was for me to write!
> 
> **Tell me all about your favorite part in the comments below!**
> 
> Your feedback is a huge part of what motivates me to write more new things!
> 
> ****


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